Businesses have joined together for a memorial to honour schoolboy Jack Thomas, who died suddenly last year at the age of 15.

Jack’s friends raised the money to fund the memorial in Oakdale Village Square through two memorial nights.

There was also a ladies night at Blackwood RFC organised to raise additional funds.

His friends were on hand to dig in with the installation of the memorial in the glorious sunshine last weekend, which takes the form of a bronze star with granite surround and a bronze ring with a touching inscription of “In honour of our special friend, An inspiration to us all” and one of Jack’s well known phrases: “Life ain’t a dress rehearsal, make it count”.

The memorial will be officially unveiled on Saturday June 8 at 11am. During the unveil, Tracey Jones, from Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Private Sector Housing Team, will also hand over a cheque for £1176.50 to Jack’s mother June Thomas, who also works for the Council’s Housing Division.

The money, which Tracey raised through sponsorship when she ran the London Marathon in April, will be donated to Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) in memory of Jack.

The charity aims to work with cardiologists and family doctors to promote and protect the cardiac health of our young by establishing good practice and screening facilities devoted to significantly reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death throughout the UK.

Cllr Ken James, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Sustainable Development, commented, “Everyone in the authority was so saddened by the sudden death of Jack last year. This memorial in his home town of Oakdale is a fitting tribute to a young man who was sadly taken from his family and friends too early and will honour his memory for years to come.”

The 1.7m diameter memorial has been designed by Welsh artist Rubin Eynon and has been installed with thanks to the fantastic support and sponsorship of a number of companies. Marshalls donated the granite stone materials; Cross WaterJet Swansea offered their services in cutting the stone to shape and Alun Griffiths Contractors installed the memorial with help from Jack’s friends.